Hmmmmm......... Interesting........
Generally, the nose gear door, if constructed out of a pre-preg panel, has
some thickness to it and the hinge is attached to the thin edge and thus
protected a bit from gear movement. I was concerned about such a hang up
when the door hinge was attached, so the SS screws used at the rear are
short - just thru the nutplates and the door is set to open at a little beyond
vertical. Round-head screws are used on the bail (or stop) and the axle
bolt is inserted from the door side so it cannot stick out on that side
even if it is a bit long.
One wonders what thoughts went through the pilot's mind. Perhaps
after a retract one could enter a left leading slip to force the nose gear
door to open to its max and then try an extension. Perhaps slow down and
try an emergency extension without the hydraulic power behind it. Perhaps
try some plus G maneuvers. Perhaps extend the mains and bounce the plane a
few times. Oh, this occurred in Europe - maybe the ATC service charges
for multiple attempts would have cost too much........
Notice that after touchdown the plane begins to slide off to the
right. Those with exhaust pipes exiting the cowling on the left will
experience this tendency on a smooth gear up landing - it's just that the pipes
provide less friction than glass as the slide progresses. It doesn't
matter how hard the left brake is pressed - believe me, I know. However,
this is a benefit if at a single runway field because the plane will be out of
the way while awaiting two tow trucks to lift the fuselage so the undamaged gear
can be extended. Also, remember to pick the touchdown spot so that
as the plane is possibly leaving the right side of the runway it
doesn't hit lights or taxiway signs as these are very expensive items. In
this country, the destruction of public property may turn an FAA
defined incident into an accident.
Scott Krueger
AKA Grayhawk
Lancair N92EX IO320 SB 89/96
Aurora, IL
(KARR)
In a message dated 7/10/2009 6:50:41 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
catignano@tele2.it writes:
The
cause of the accident was that the owner, who I know, replaced the screws in
the nose gear door with stainless screws which were longer than the ones they
replaced. As a result the nose gear retracted, but would not
extend.
Tom McNerney ha scritto:
Not to flood this place with youtube links, but this is something I think everyone should see. Check out the related videos of the plane on the ground before/after the nose gear failure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEWWQsWThxs
Tom
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